“At the beach, you want to spend time where everyone can be together. One big giant room where you cook, eat, watch TV, and play games just works," says Interior Designer, Tim Clarke.

Living Space

Shiplap walls: They add timeworn beach cottage character to any new space. Plus, says Tim, “a room needs less decoration when it has interesting architecture.”

Sandy-gray trim: Tim reversed a more typical paint approach—color on the walls and white for the trim—to frame the views with a hue more in tune with the landscape than bright white. This trim treatment also highlights the room’s Craftsman-inspired architectural details.

Living Space Details

A singular hit of color: Like a bloom flowering among the dune grasses, a plum-colored wing chair (right, below) perks up the room’s nature-inspired neutral palette.

Tables with patina: Made from attractively distressed reclaimed wood, the coffee and dining tables add just the right amount of beachy texture to the room.

Dining Space

Dining rooms are great places to show off beautiful hardwoods, which are also easier to keep clean than rugs. Reserving the woven jute rug for the living area helps subdivide the larger space into two smaller ones.

Dining Space Details

Mod dining chairs: Their clean lines and crisp matte finish make a contemporary statement against the rustic farm table.

Vintage light fixtures: The secret? They’re not really aged. But their antique styling gives this new house old soul.

Kitchen

With four large windows behind the sink overlooking the courtyard and an even larger bank of windows and doors opening to the porch (and that view!) on the opposite wall, this kitchen needs very little artificial light during the day.

The warm wood island’s oak base has a cerused finish, with white glaze or wax filling the pores of the natural wood to highlight the grain, a rustic touch in the otherwise clean and simple space.

Kitchen Details

Minimalist fixtures: Sleek styling on the barely-there range hood and the faucet, which can be turned on with just a touch, keeps the focus on form without sacrificing function.

The quartz countertops: The 2-inch-thick surfaces add shine to the space, but they aren’t just good-looking—they’re also naturally scratch-, scorch-, and stain-resistant, with four times the strength of granite.

Kitchen Pantry

Without doors, the pantry becomes a place to display a collection of dishware and also keep it easily accessible.

Main Floor Color Palette

Driftwood inspired Tim’s paint choices for the main level.

Main Level Powder Room

The handmade wallcovering in the main level powder room was combed over with paint in the colors of glass fishing floats, which frequently wash ashore along the Washington coast.

Porch

Outdoor furniture gets an update with modern lines, comfortable cushions, and a clean black finish.

Made of cellular polyvinyl chloride (PVC) that looks like wood, the decking is resistant to mildew, moisture, splitting, scratches, and stains.

A black metal framed coffee table with wide wood planks will withstand being outdoors, and the industrial heft balances the lightweight sofa and chairs. Casters make rearranging for company a breeze.

Porch Details

That preppy plaid: The twist: The natural surroundings inspired the colors on the traditional-print outdoor fabric, for a clubhouse feel by the sea.

Exterior

The low profile: Due to a development height restriction of 28 feet, the house is capped with a cedar-shake gambrel roof that creates a modest facade and cozier rooms.

That soft gray siding: A peaceful, bleached-driftwood hue belies the structural integrity of the siding and trim, guaranteed to stand up to the coastal environment for decades.

Understated windows: The divided panes on the upper sashes were based on an early 20th century design. The single-pane lower sashes guarantee uninterrupted views.

Charming awnings: The wide stripes and scalloped edges of the outdoor fabric dress up the cool exterior but still stay true to its understated style.

Courtyard

The courtyard is divided into an informal dining space and an inviting living area, both with sturdy teak furnishings and hardy outdoor fabrics that can stand up to weather and frequent use. The wood carving of swirling ocean waves, and the hedge backdrop, give the wall-less room a little definition.

Pergola

Making the most of every square foot, a pergola connects the garage and guesthouse, and a covered walkway that runs in front of the fireplace connects the main house to the guesthouse.

Courtyard Dining Area and Breezeway

“We tried to give as many spaces as possible access to the exterior. This house really is about spending time in nature,” says Project designer, Lew Oliver.

Low-maintenance pea gravel: This stylish but fuss-free groundcover requires virtually no upkeep and looks great year-round. It also becomes a design element in the space, lending depth to all that gray.

Outdoor Shower

A streamlined brass-and-stainless fixture is a space-saving approach to the post-beach rinse.

The indestructible rug: With its wide stripes, soft ribbing, and 50 percent recycled content, this indoor/outdoor rug is as good for the environment as it is good-looking, and it can handle the wear and tear a gym endures.

Media Room

That giant sectional: The modular sofa is crowd-ready, even if that crowd is coming straight in from the beach—it’s upholstered in outdoor fabric.

Groovy rattan tables: With their midcentury lines and wide glass surfaces, they can accommodate snacks, drinks, and propped-up feet for an army of movie-watchers.

The gallery wall: A grouping of vintage and contemporary artwork, which can change and evolve over time, plays off the wildly patterned rug and the room’s kicked-back, irreverent style.

Gym and Media Room Color Palette

Tim chose wallpaper hand-painted with the same pattern left in the sand as waves roll off the beach.

“I chose these wallpapers for the media room and gym because I wanted to juxtapose all those machines with something handmade,” says Tim.

Lower Level Spa Bath

The untreated cedar paneling smells amazing and adds an organic feel to the spa bath.

Lower Level Powder Room

It wouldn’t be a beach house without a shell-encrusted mirror! “I like to fill small spaces like powder rooms with lots of interesting things to look at,” says Tim. “They’re like little surprises for guests.”

Master Bedroom

The ebonized bed: A crisp black finish gives the traditional four-poster bed a modern silhouette and lends some bold lines to the gray-blue palette.

Sky-blue ceilings: “It’s the first thing you see when you wake up, so it should be pleasing to your eye,” Tim says.

Master Bedroom Details

All those stripes: From the hand-painted wallpaper, inspired by the tree trunks just outside the window, to the ticking-stripe pillows and rug, this classic motif is all the pattern a beachy bedroom needs.

Upstairs Deck

Both of the bedrooms on the second floor have their own individual doors leading to a deck that is furnished with chairs so homeowners can sit outside, enjoy the view, and relax.

Master Bath

The bamboo vanity: Painted with a slightly distressed sandy-gray shade, this double sink base is the perfect mix of English antique and beachy casual.

Embellished mirrors: A pair of bone-inlaid wooden mirrors adds a feminine touch to the clean space.

Angular sconces: Pared-down lighting is the perfect simple, industrial contrast to the intricate and embellished mirrors.